THINK AGAIN

Hold off on that big decision

You Can't Stop Thinking About DinnerNot eating (whether as a result of a diet or a too-busy work day) can do more than make you cranky: the more you resist a craving, the less likely you will be able to resistother desires. Translation: Depriving yourself of that slice of pizza you wanted on the way to the car dealer can lead to you buying a red mustang over a sensible Prius.

You're LeaningHere's a fun fact: When thinking about numbers, our minds imagine smaller numbers to the left and larger numbers to the right. According to studies conducted at the University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, manipulating your body's tilt influences how you estimate quantities. The study noted that even when you're unaware of your body's angle, you estimate smaller when leaning left and higher when leaning right. And it goes beyond numbers -- the participants that leaned right during the study over-estimated the height of the Eifel Tower, percentage of alcohol in whiskey, among other quantities.

You're StressedNot only is stress a curse on your health, but researchers at the University of Southern California discovered that it can also increase your potential for bad decision-making. Similar to sleep-deprivation, stress makes you focus on the positive while ignoring the downsides of an outcome. This kind of explains the role of stress in addiction: You need a fix bad and the craving overcomes any consideration of the dangerous drawbacks. Likewise, itching to get a project simply “over with” can lead to rash choices with unpleasant consequences.

You're OverwhelmedEver go to a Cheesecake Factory or DSW? There are enough options to make your head spin. But why? You knew very well that you wanted a pair of wedges but once in the store, you find yourself checking out the sneakers…and the heels…and then the boots. According to a study conducted at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, we simply have a knack for complicating our choices. When faced with a decision, we will often compromise our initial preferences to make the inferior options seem better. We need to weigh all the options – even though you know your closet really doesn’t need another pair of heels you will never wear. "Once we start complicating the decision, our focus and preferences shift," explains study-author Professor Rom Schrif. "Therefore, we may end up choosing an option that merely appears to be better, just because we complicated our choice."

You're Wearing JeansWe apparently do wear our hearts on our sleeves, say researchers at the University of Hertfordshire. There is such a strong link between clothes and our moods that what we put on in the morning not only reflects our state of mind, but can influence it as well. Apparently blue jeans are the clothing of choice for depressed people, so you might want to stay away when you can’t afford to be down. Instead, put on some happy clothes: a hat, a favorite dress, a favorite pair of shoes, or anything bright or figure-enhancing. If you look good, you are more likely to make a feel-good decision.

You're Working in a GroupTeamwork is taught to us as the recipe to success as early as our kindergarten days. But new research from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania shows that working in a group provides a certain level of cockiness that prevents you from accepting input from anyone outside your group. You naturally assume that the decision your team came up with is correct. When you work alone, you’re more likely to be an equal-opportunity advice taker. And it's always best to get all sides of a story before you act.

You're OverexcitedGood things come to those who remain calm, says a psychology study from theUniversity of Illinois. Participants in the study who were exposed to action words like “start” and “active” had poorer impulse control -- they opted to get an immediate monetary reward instead of waiting for a higher one later. The opposite was true with those primed to words like “rest” or “stop”.

You're Feeling the Urge to ShopAfter getting a less-than-stellar performance review, you go on a shopping binge. Sound familiar? You're not alone. Scientists from Cornell University and the London Business School found that when feeling down, people hide their sorrows in shopping bags – the more depressed the person, the higher-end the stuff in the bag. In other words, don’t go house-shopping when you are blue! You may not be making the most sensible decisions.

You're ExhaustedThere’s science behind this, people! Numerous studies have shown that sleep-deprivation leads to risky decision making. In one recently conducted by University of Massachusetts Amherst psychologists, 54 people were taught to play a card game for rewards. Those who got a regular night’s worth of sleep understood the rules better and received four times the winnings of their sleepless counterparts. Why? According to neuroscientists at Duke University, when we lose sleep, we’re more likely to see the positive rewards instead of paying attention to the negative consequences.

You're Too Aware of Gender RolesA Columbia University study suggests that we manifest gender stereotypes when we know they exist. In the study, participants were asked to make a series of financial decisions. Those not asked their gender before embarking on the tasks showed no differences in results between the men and the women. Participants who were asked to check a gender box before making the same decisions, women lived up to the stereotype that they are not as risk-taking as men and made more cautious decisions. The men, similarly, lived up to their stereotype and took more risks.